Why We Created HowToConvinceYourBoss.com

This week we officially launched a new website called HowToConvinceYourBoss.com (CYB). Before you head over there to check out all the amazing content and useful information, I thought I would give a quick explanation on how this all came about.

I teach a lot of content marketing workshops. In fact, I am willing to bet that by the end of 2014, Vertical Measures will have trained more people in hands-on content marketing workshops than anyone else in the world. I will have personally trained more than 1,000 students in a face-to-face, instructor led environment this year. The attendees range from seasoned marketing people to SEOs retooling themselves, from the solo entrepreneur to Fortune 100 companies, including people from all over the world. In fact, as you are reading this I am preparing to leave for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to teach a 2-day version of our workshop. We have already booked our workshops well into 2015, not only in the U.S., but in Europe as well.

Total Frustration

Which leads me to this: the most common thing I hear weeks after the conclusion of the workshop is that the attendees are struggling to convince their boss to invest in content marketing. It didn’t really matter what size the company was, what industry they were in, or where they were located. They were just not able to get the commitment from management. Some would call me, some would email me, but the bottom line was the same – they were frustrated and needed help.

Here are I am at the MnSearch Conference.

It was easy to see why this was happening. After all they had taken the time to find a content marketing workshop that made sense for them. They got approval from their boss to spend the time and money to attend the workshop. They took a couple days out of their busy schedule to travel to and attend the workshop. They studied, interacted, met new people, applied themselves, and left the event all excited with clear visions of how they were going to transform their business through content marketing.

Reality Hits

You know the drill. You spend a couple days at a conference and sit through an in-depth workshop. You head back to the shop with pages of notes and great intentions. Then reality hits. You still have that 50-hour work week. But you remain determined to get management to sign off on your proposal. The one that is going to change the way your company does business forever. You literally cannot sleep at night you are so excited.

Except….. you are not even sure how to get started. How do you take 12 pages of notes and condense them into something your executive team will understand? You’re thinking “My God, the workshop was eight hours long, I can’t imagine getting more than 60 minutes with them. How can I possibly explain it all?” And that’s where CYB comes in.

Convince Your Boss

We created CYB to be your one-stop-shop website for the resources, tools, quotes, and statistics you’ll need to hone your pitch and walk into your boss’ office with confidence and a pretty stellar toolbox in your back pocket. We’ll even show you how to put together an effective pitch, in whatever industry you’re in, however large or small your company is, and whichever objections your boss may throw at you. And maybe most importantly, we’ll show you how to prove to your boss the ROI of content marketing that will make your organization more money.

The truth is… content marketing can work for every business. Companies are proving that every day. But I can tell you from firsthand experience both as the founder of a company who made the switch to content marketing and now as a person who consults with and trains companies on how to do it, you have to get the executives to understand the benefits — to them.

As Marcus Sheridan points out, we also need to use language that will hit home. Are you telling your boss the company needs to blog more? Needs to be more active on social media? Or are you telling them the company should develop a learning center so when prospects visit your website, you help solve their problems better than anyone else in the world? The organization doing the latter, they are the ones racing to the forefront in your industry.

Don’t Wait

Head over to HowToConvinceYourBoss.com and create your pitch today. Remember, the best time to start a content marketing program was five years ago. The second best time is today!